Yu-Gi-Oh!: Book of Life
by TheRealBakura
Summary: The Yu-Gi-Oh! characters star in a Yu-Gi-Oh! version the the movie "The Book of Life".
1. Chapter 1

The bus parked into the driveway of the museum, and opened it's doors. For a few, mere, seconds, it seemed as if no passengers were on it, then five high school students walked down the stairs, and out the door.

These five students were Jaden Yuki, Syrus Truesdale, Chumley Huffington, Bastian Misawa, and Alexis Rhodes. They had all been friends for as long as they could remember. There was a very slim chance that they would all end up on the same school bus together, but it happened.

They were all absent the day of the grade's field trip. They were required to go, so it was arranged for the five to all go on the field trip together.

As the tour guide walked out to meet the students, he took a quick look at them. Immediately, he saw Jaden and well assumed they were punks. Jaden's hair was ginger on the top, and dark brown everywhere else. In reality, Jaden had never dyed his hair, the color was (unbelievably) natural.

He kept staring at them, hoping they didn't hear his whimpering, or worse- see him. He started whimpering louder, still hoping the students didn't hear him. As if his prayers had been answered, another tour guide came out from behind him.

"Don't worry, I'll take them. You go take your break.", she said.

"Thank you, Mai. Thank you."

The tour guide ran off, as fast as his legs could take him. Mai looked out. The students were now walking up the stairway, coming to the door- and her. She started with a gentle smile.

"Hello," Mai said, " it's nice to know you'll be taking a tour with this museum today. I'll be your tour guide. Follow me."

Mai kept going, walking past the front doors of the museum as she went. While the rest of the group kept following Mai, Jaden stopped in front of the doors.

"Excuse me," he said, "but isn't this the door?"

"Yes, it is," Mai said, "but I see, you're different from the other kids that come here. You, need to see something special."

Jaden and his friends were confused, but they continued to follow Mai. It seemed like they would never end their walk, Mai stopped at a wall.

"This is the door we'll be going through," she said, pointing at the wall.

"You should get yourself checked. There's nothing there," Syrus said.

Mai chuckled. She walked backwards, right to the wall. She should have been standing against the wall, possibly, she could have fallen down, due to kickback, but she didn't. She was caught between two areas of the wall, one in front of her, one behind her.

"Follow me," she ordered the students, and they obeyed her command.

They walked into a tunnel. It was so lengthy, and deprived of light, that no matter how far or how hard they looked, they saw nothing but infinite darkness, those students. The only light in the tunnel came from the flashlight in Mai's left hand.

"Now," Mai said, "today is June 7th. Does anyone have any idea as to why that date is important?"

Jaden spoke first. "Only one week until we are released from the prison known as school?"

Alexis elbowed him in the side. "School isn't prison," she said.

"No, it's not," Mai said.

"School is indeed, prison.", Jaden repeated.

"No, I wholeheartedly agree with you. I mean, that's not the answer.", Mai informed him.

"Does it mean summer's right around the corner?", Chumley asked.

"No," Mai said, "today is the Day of Duel Monsters."

Jaden took his Duel Monsters deck out of his pocket as he walked with the group. He had never known the game was so important, enough to have a day dedicated to it.

"Shh.", Mai whispered.

Now that they were getting closer to their destination, Mai wanted to keep as quiet as possible, or they would run into...

There was a yell. A person was suddenly in front of the beam of light escaping from Mai's flashlight. "You can't go this way! You'll get us both in trouble! Ancient rules of the... uh... museum administration!", he yelled.

Watchdog Ryou. Mai was hoping not to run into him, he had a tendency to scare people off. That was exactly what Mai was trying to avoid.

"Please, my wonderful watchdog," she cried, "I just want to take these poor souls on a tour! Is that so wrong?! Look into my eyes!", she started wiping her eyes free of tears, "Is that so wrong?!"

Ryou felt fear as he looked into her eyes, tears coming out of them and rolling down her face, colored a murky gray by her mascara. He had never begun to think that Mai could have used a glycerin tear producer to make him think he had made her cry. He was distracted by the fact that she, at least, seemed to be crying, and he thought he had caused it.

"I... I'm sorry, I d... didn't mean to, I... Go right on ahead, Mai.", Ryou said.

As she walked around him, Mai whispered into Ryou's ear, "thank you", and slipped a small kiss onto his cheek on the way by.

"You're welcome," Ryou answered, breathless, his face red.

Mai and the group walked past him, and Mai turned on a switch. Several lights turned on, and the students seemed amazed.

"Children, this is the beauty of Japan!", Mai announced.

The children looked around. There was a large Japanese flag hanging on one of the walls. There were two high standing bookshelves, one filled to the top with manga, the other filled to the top with anime disc sets. In between the two bookshelves were two framed pictures, one depicting the Japanese attacking Pearl Harbor (that was unnecessary, Bastian thought), and the other was a hand drawn sketch of one of Japan's most famous landmarks, the Tokyo Tower. There was a low standing table surrounded with small pillows, with sushi, dumplings, yakisoba, a side dish of wasabi, and more spread all out on the table.

Syrus was standing in awe in front of the bookshelves. "Look at all the manga here," he exclaimed, "I could just stay here and read it all for days!"

"You'd probably die from starvation or dehydration before you could finish it all, Syrus.", Bastian said from behind him.

Syrus rolled his eyes. No matter what he dreamed, or talked about, Bastian always found a way to ruin it for him. He walked away from the shelves, attempting to avoid Bastian as mush as possible. Syrus stopped as he saw Chumley walk up a flight of stairs and stare at a giant book on a stand, closed. Syrus didn't walk up the staircase, he just stood at the bottom of it.

"What are you doing, Chumley?", Syrus asked.

"I'm inspecting this book here. Look at it. The cover is leather, but it looks identical to the back of a Duel Monsters card!", Chumley exclaimed.

Syrus took a Duel Monsters card out from his pocket to look at and compare with the book. Chumley was right! Both the book and the card had a dark brown background, with (seemingly) randomly placed lighter brown lines on top, creating the image of a vortex that would absorb everything surrounding it.

"It seems that you've found the Book of Duel Monsters," Mai said from behind them.

She walked up the staircase, and Syrus followed in her wake. The other students saw what was going on, and decided to follow Mai, Syrus, and Chumley onto the platform that held the Book of Duel Monsters.

"This book holds stories," Mai said, "a whole collection of them. Some of them," she flipped to a page that showed two people right opposite each other, a large stone tablet in front of each of them, "are true."

Jaden read the title aloud. "Ancient Duels? That sounds cool!"

"And others," Mai flipped the book to a page that showed a boy, he looked no older than 16, holding a golden rod in his hand, facing what seemed to be a living pyramid in battle, "are legends, myths, half truths, rumors..."

"...lies.", Alexis finished.

Mai nodded. "I'll tell you one of the stories in here, but first, you have to meet a few people."

Mai stepped back, and the students did the same. It took them a few minutes, and a bit of following Mai's eye contact, but they eventually noticed a large mural on the wall behind the Book of Duel Monsters.

On the left, there was a painting of a woman in a long, white robe. She had a band on her forehead that had a large emerald in the center, and her silky black hair reached her waist. Her picture depicted her as facing out towards the left, like an angel.

On the right, there was a painting of a man, this time, in a long black robe. His hair was a mess, but it was long, reaching his shoulders, and it was a silvery white color. He had two large black dragon wings, black, as well. His eyes were slits, and they were dark brown. His picture showed him like a black colored devil, facing the opposite way of the woman.

Right in between the two paintings was a painting of a blond haired man in a golden robe. He was holding two candles, one in each hand. The one on the left was aflame, bright and melting away. The one on the right, however, was extinguished, the wick black and charred.

"The woman on the left," Mai said, "is Goddess Ishizu. She loves all mankind and believes that their hearts are pure and true. The man on the left is Heathen King Bakura. He thinks mankind is not so pure, just like him."

Alexis looked at the man in the middle, confused. "Who's he?", she asked, pointing at the center.

"Well," Mai said, "that's Candle Maker Joseph. He keeps everything in balance. Let me show you this."

She walked over to a box on a small side table, which looked like a three-dimensional Duel Monsters card. She opened it, to reveal multiple wooden figures, all arranged to fit perfectly in the box.

"Do you see all these figures? They represent real people in our story, just like you and me. Now," she flipped to a page that showed three children in front of a town gate, "just listen, as I tell the story..."


	2. Chapter 2

The three children were standing outside the town gates of Domino, still within the town limits. The girl felt the need to run back into the center of town, if she wasn't back by midnight, her father would give her a real lecture, and she wanted to avoid that as much as possible. She turned around, and ran back into town, the two boys close behind her.

She tried to ignore their shouts as they told her to stop, to go back. She ran back towards the heart of town, to find her father. It was the Day of Duel Monsters, and it was late, they would all be gathered in the center of town, playing Duel Monsters until midnight. Knowing her father, he would be there, he was the mayor.

"Tèa, where are you going?!", one of the boys, Yugi Muto, called after the girl.

"You need to come back!", the other boy, Seto Kaiba, yelled.

The girl, Tèa Gardner, ignored them, and said nothing. She and the boys eventually arrived in Town Square, where her father was nowhere to be found.

"Where is he?", Tèa asked, concerned.

Yugi looked over to the right, hard. After a few seconds, he stopped looking, and faced Tèa.

"The mayor's over there," he whispered, pointing out.

Tèa left the boys behind, and ran out of Town Square. The boys seemed to have no objection to being abandoned as they watched Tèa rush off to the graveyard, where her father was.

She found him standing in front of a white marble tombstone, placing a single pink rose on top of it. Tèa looked at the grave, and recognized it immediately, as her mother's. She saw the engraving on it, black in color:

Cecilia Pegasus, 1974-1996

"Father...", Tèa whispered.

Maximillion Pegasus looked up from his wife's grave, and faced his daughter. "Tèa, girl, come here. Your mother would have loved to see you."

Tèa walked over to her father, and he wrapped an arm around her. She leaned into Pegasus's side, and he took his other arm to wrap around her.

"It's the Day of Duel Monsters," Pegasus said, "Why don't we go to Town Square?"

Tèa nodded, and she and her father slowly walked into Town Square. Little did they know, they were being spied on.

"Well, she seems nice. I know her mother, and she says that she misses her terribly," Goddess Ishizu said.

"What do you care about the girl and her mother? I've been banished from the Land of Remembered Ones for centuries! I want to trade lands!", Heathen King Bakura complained.

"You made your bed with that wager," Ishizu said, "You're there 'cause you cheated! You rule the Land of Forgotten Souls now, and you can't change that."


	3. Chapter 3

"Huh?", all the students said in unison.

"Oh," Mai said, "Well, there were two realms that people went when they died. If you were remembered by anyone, you ended up in the Land of Remembered Ones, the realm ruled by Goddess Ishizu. If you were forgotten, you would end up in the Land of Forgotten Souls, which was ruled by Heathen King Bakura. The two were easily tempted by bets and wagers, and Heathen King Bakura used to this to his advantage. He desperately wanted to rule the Land of Remembered Ones, but no one knew why. May I continue, now?"

The students nodded their heads.


	4. Chapter 4

"Hey, I have an idea," the Heathen King said, "what about another wager? Do you see that?"

He pointed towards Tèa, Yugi, and Kaiba, who were all gathered in a circle, chatting away. Ishizu took in the fact that Kaiba seemed lightheaded, and Yugi looked slightly red in the face.

"Two boys, best friends, no less," the Heathen King continued.

"Oh, in love with the same girl!", Ishizu exclaimed.

"I believe we have our wager," the Heathen King said to Ishizu, "Which boy will marry the girl?"

Ishizu smirked. "Fine. We will each choose one of these boys as our champion."

The Heathen King nodded. Ishizu quickly spun around, and jumped off the top of the building she and the Heathen King were standing on. The Heathen King wrapped himself around in his black dragon-like wings, and did the same.

The two were standing on the ground, now, but not in their spiritual forms. The Heathen King had been transformed into a young man, with a deep brown skin tone that was identical to Ishizu's, wearing a white turban. Ishizu was now wearing a white dress, and wearing a hat that was gold in color.

"Well, Mana, let's go wish our poor heroes luck.", the Heathen King said to Ishizu, called Mana in her mortal form.

"You go first, Shadi," Mana commanded to the Heathen King, who as a mortal, was called Shadi.

The two separated their own paths, Mana headed toward Yugi, Shadi headed toward Kaiba.

Yugi, Kaiba, and Tèa were now separate, and Yugi was watching his grandfather play Duel Monsters, at this point. As he watched his grandfather put a card face down, Mana came from behind him.

"Hello, young man," she said to him, "do you play Duel Monsters?"

Yugi turned around to see her. He jumped back, startled. "Not really. I just watch."

"I've been playing Duel Monsters for years," Mana said, "I've gotten pretty good at it. Do you own any cards?"

"A few," Yugi said.

"Well, I was wondering, do you have a Kuriboh? I need one for my deck.", Mana said.

Yugi dug a Duel Monsters card out of his pocket, and handed it to Mana. "There. Any duelist is a friend of mine.", he said.

Mana smiled. "Thank you, young man. In return, you have my blessing. May your heart be always, pure and courageous."

Yugi nodded, as he watched Mana walk off in the distance. Mana hid behind a small building, as she watched Shadi have his interaction with Kaiba.

Kaiba was standing outside of Town Square, with his father. His father thought that dueling was important, but only for his business. Kaiba knew how to duel, and loved doing it, too. He always found a way to crush his opponent, whether it be by luck, spirit... or cheating.

"Do you see how many duelists there are, Seto? The more, the better. Soon, every duelist will come to us, begging to be given cards and lessons. I love the sound of that," Kaiba's father said.

Kaiba stayed silent. He had his head down, his eyes closed. He didn't see his father walk away into Town Square, and he didn't see Shadi come up from behind him.

"Young man," he said, making Kaiba jump, "would you happen to be a duelist?"

Shadi either didn't notice the fact that Kaiba had taken out a dagger, or he didn't care. Either way, Kaiba hastily put it away. "Yeah," he said, "What's it to you?"

Shadi smiled. "I was looking for a Kuriboh, to add to my deck. Would you happen to have one?"

Kaiba pulled a card out from his pocket, and flipped it around in his hand. "I don't care how common this card is, it's mine, and you can't tell me different! I'm not giving it up, unless you've got something to trade for it!"

Shadi smiled, and pulled out a card. It had a purple background, and the picture depicted a blue dragon with three heads.

"This is a rare card: the Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon. I understand that you run a Blue-Eyes White Dragon deck, Seto Kaiba.", Shadi told him.

Kaiba stepped back. How did this stranger know his name, and what deck he used? Either way, that card would fit perfectly in his deck, and all this duelist wanted was a Kuriboh?

Kaiba threw the card at Shadi. "Take it," he said, "I've been meaning to get rid of it, anyway."

Shadi handed Kaiba the card, and got closer. "But, beware," he whispered, "there is a thief, who will stop at nothing to get that card."

Kaiba knew who Shadi was talking about. Emperor Alister of the Thieves. He called himself an emperor, but he just commanded a band of thieves to do his bidding. Nearly every theft in the town of Domino was by the hands of Emperor Alister and his band of cruel thieves. Kaiba had never wanted anything to do with them, but this card caught him up in it. Then again, having this rare card made him a powerful duelist.

"You mean Emperor Alister, don't you?", Kaiba asked.

He turned around for Shadi's answer, but Shadi had disappeared from the premises. Little did he know that Shadi was now Heathen King Bakura, and he was standing on the top of a nearby building, along with Ishizu.

"So," the Heathen King said to Ishizu, "if my boy marries the girl, we'll trade lands, and I'll rule the Land of Remembered Ones."

Ishizu smiled. She walked behind the Heathen King. "And, if my boy marries the girl, you will...", Ishizu started stroking the Heathen King's hair, "stop interfering with the affairs of man!" Ishizu hit him hard on the back of his head, and he let out a slight moan.

"No!", the Heathen King exclaimed. He was flapping his wings, and was now six inches above the ground, furious. "That's the only fun I ever get!"

"Then the bet is off," Ishizu told him, and walked to the side.

"Oh, my love. Well," the Heathen King said, "then, by the ancient rules," he shook hands with Ishizu, "the wager is set."


	5. Chapter 5

"And, so," Mai announced, "the greatest wager in history began! Yugi and Kaiba," she already had their figures on the table, and she sat Tèa's in between them, "for the hand of Tèa."

Jaden was in shock. "This is insane!", he shouted.

"So, wait," Syrus said, "these ancient gods picked three little to kids to..."

Chumley finished for him. "Represent the whole world?!"

Mai had a shocked look on her face. "I know, pretty crazy, right?"

"Yeah," Jaden shouted, "keep going, lady!"

Mai smiled, and put the three figures away to continue.


	6. Chapter 6

It was the day after the Day of Duel Monsters. Yugi, Kaiba, and Tèa were playing around, running down a path in Domino. As they passed a slave trading building, Tèa stopped at the cage the slaves were kept in to stare.

She kept her eyes on a specific one. His hair was slanting in one direction, standing up. He was dressed in rags, and he seemed bruised and scarred. Tèa saw his condition, and felt sympathetic. He looked like he was in the worst condition, out of the eighty-something slaves there.

"Hey!", she yelled, in the form of a whisper. "Hey!"

He slowly looked up at her. He crawled over to the edge of the gate, to get a closer look at her. He looked her up and down, from the soles of her shoes to the roots of her hair. Tèa didn't really want to look at this poor slave boy, he was so badly hurt.

"Are you alright? I'm Tèa Gardner." , she said.

" Me? I could be better. Tristan. Tristan Taylor.", he introduced himself. "Wait. Did you say Tèa Gardner was your name?"

Tèa nodded, using a bobby pin to pick at the lock holding the cage closed. Tristan gasped.

"You're the mayor's daughter! Why are you trying to help me?", he asked.

"You're the most badly injured in there. What'd you say if I freed you and helped you out? I could get you some medical attention, New clothes, and a good home!", Tèa bragged, unsure if she could supply the latter for Tristan.

Nevertheless, Tristan smiled, as Tèa's lock picking was successful. The door opened, and Tristan walked out of it. It was then that Tèa noticed that Tristan had a limp and a twisted ankle that induced it. When Tristan had made it our of the cage, Tèa snapped the lock shut, and Tristan was free.

"Thank you," he said to her, "Thank you."

His second "thank you" went unheard by Tèa, as her father had seen the event from afar, and was in shock.

"Tèa Pegasus-Gardner!", Pegasus shouted.

He stormed off for his daughter, and grabbed her wrist.

"Father! Let me go, let me go!", Tèa shouted, but Pegasus kept a tight grip.

"This rebellious nonsense ends, now! You're going to become a proper lady!", Pegasus commanded her.

"Why?", Tèa asked, confused.

"Because I said so! I'm sending you to France! The Sisters at the Convent of the Perpetual Flame of Purity will straighten you out! Go, now!", Pegasus shouted.

He let go of Tèa's wrist, and she stormed off crying, her father's hand print still red around it. Yugi and Kaiba had saw the whole upsetting affair, and Yugi felt remorse for his friend. Yugi ran after Pegasus, and jumped right on top of him, pinning the mayor to the ground. Kaiba got scared, and pushed Yugi off of Pegasus.

Pegasus's vision was blurry, but Kaiba was right in front of him. "Are you okay, sir?", Kaiba asked the mayor.

Pegasus began to regain his vision. He saw Kaiba. "Kaiba, boy, you have saved my life!", he exclaimed. He returned to the focus of Yugi, who was on the knees, looking like he was ready to cry. "Yugi, boy, I have a standing friendship with your grandfather, so I'll let you off with a warning: don't do that, ever again."

Kaiba grabbed Pegasus's hand, and helped him onto his feet. "Kaiba, boy, you remind me of your brother, Noah. He was a fighter, but he fought to protect. He had taken up the idea of fighting for protection long ago, but he really took it up when..."

As their conversation kept moving on, so did Kaiba and Pegasus. They were walking away from Yugi and Tristan, as if Pegasus only cared that his daughter had let the slave free, but didn't care if he stayed free.

Yugi looked back at Tristan. "Where should I take you?", he whispered to himself, knowing that Tristan couldn't hear him. He had an idea. He just hoped he could get it done within one day.


	7. Chapter 7

"Goodbye, Tèa!", "So long, Tèa!", "We'll miss you, Tèa!"

That was all Yugi could hear. He didn't want to think that his best friend was going away forever, he was just trying to think of it as "Tèa's going on vacation.", but it was soon joined by "...for who knows how long.". It scared him how long Tèa was going to be gone, but it was happening.

The train was only minutes away from arriving. Yugi ran towards Tèa, who was already joined by Kaiba. Kaiba seemed shocked as Yugi approached, and Tèa turned around (most likely seeing the expression on Kaiba's face), and got excited, but then suddenly disheartened.

"I'm going to miss you guys," she said, solemn.

"We'll be here, waiting," Kaiba said in response.

"Oh, Yugi."

Tèa spaced away from Kaiba, who was trying to hug her, and gave a small pendant to Yugi. It was silver, in the shape of a heart.

"I gave Kaiba one, too," she said, "it's to remember me by, while I'm gone. I'll never forget you two, but I'm not so sure if you'd remember me.", Tèa looked like she was on the verge of tears.

"Tèa, I'd never forget you! It's still a thoughtful gift, though. Also, I have something for you.", Yugi said.

Yugi made a hand gesture, telling someone to come toward him, but exactly who it was escaped Tèa's vision. Soon, she realized who it was.

It was Tristan, dressed in a suit, wounds trended to. Tèa looked at him, smiling.

"I want to come with you," Tristan said to Tèa, "you freed me. You're my master, now. I'd me happy to be in your service, Mistress Gardner.", Tristan bowed, like he was meeting royalty.

Tèa looked at Tristan like he was a broken android. "I won't treat you like a servant, you'll just be my friend. You can come with me, still."

Tristan looked up, and smiled. Kaiba wondered what people would think at the sight of a seven year old girl and her servant going onto a train, not to come back for years. He kept his thoughts to himself.

And, it was good he did, for the train conductor shouted "ALL ABOARD!", and Tèa and Tristan had to run onto the train to leave. As the train took off, Yugi and Kaiba both ran after it.

"Tèa!", they both shouted, "when you come back, we'll all play Duel Monsters, we promise!"

Tèa let out a laugh, but due to her leaning out the train window, her headband, a red band with a large rose on it, flew off her head, and out into the open. Yugi just stood, knowing that he couldn't chase the train any farther. Kaiba ran after Tèa's headband, which was blowing off in the wind.

"I will wait for you.", Yugi whispered, feeling that Tèa could still hear him in her heart.


	8. Chapter 8

It had been almost twelve years since Tèa's departure from Japan. She, Yugi and Kaiba were all nineteen, and plenty had happened since then. Kaiba, using his Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon card, had become a world renowned, famous duelist. Tèa had become one of the smartest women that had even lived in Domino. Nothing in particular had actually happened to Yugi, other than that he had learned how to play Duel Monsters, and built a deck for himself.

Yugi was the only one of the three friends that was still in Domino. He was a loved duelist in Domino, though the citizens felt he would never rise up into the ranks of Kaiba. Yugi was hoping that he could face Tèa in Duel Monsters the Day she returned.

Yugi's grandfather was a kind man, but a very tough one, too. He had taught Yugi how to play Duel Monsters, and made sure he did right, but Yugi still had his faults, which made Solomon Muto a very unhappy man. Once Yugi had become skilled enough, he had decided to do something they thought Solomon would never do: he set Yugi up in a duel with Seto Kaiba.

The whole town would turn out to watch, considering Kaiba was coming for the thing he did best, a Duel. The day of the duel also happened to be the day that Tèa would return. Everyone in town had known Tèa, and they were excited to see her after a painful twelve years.

Yugi was wearing a duelist's uniform, and his grandfather was making adjustments to it, whether it be a stitching redone at the seams of his pants, or a replacement button on the shirt. Yugi's grandfather wanted him to not just play his absolute best today, he also wanted him to look his best.

"It's not necessary," Yugi told his grandfather, "I could have just worn my usual clothes."

"You're a duelist," he said, "you need to look like one."

Yugi rolled his eyes as his grandfather tightened one of the stitches near his shoulder blade. Their servant, Duke, was standing off to the side, holding a spare outfit, extra cloth of the same color as both outfits, needles, and a few spools of thread.

"Solomon, don't you think you're taking this a bit too far? Yugi's bound to lose this match, even without the fancy outfit.", Duke said.

"He's got a point, grandpa," Yugi agreed.

Solomon ignored the two as he took a needle off the top of the cloths Duke was holding, in an attempt to make a better fix on one of the stitches on Yugi's shirt, near the shoulder area.

Yugi looked over to the door, and the window on it. There was no one coming, and no one passing by. Yugi was hoping to see Tèa pass by the door, or maybe even see Kaiba come in through the door, but no one, not even the neighbors passed by. Yugi turned his attention to Duke.

He saw the scar that ran down the left side of his face, a result of the fight he got into trying to save his parents, who died by murder, after Duke's attack on their murderer failed. Yugi noticed two slits across his wrists, from where Duke used a knife to try and commit suicide after his parents' deaths. The last thing Yugi saw was the long scratch that ran down his arm, a result of a very abusive, previous master to which Duke did bidding. Duke was saved from torture when Yugi's grandfather bought him as a slave.

Duke had been with Yugi and Solomon for five years. Yugi thought he would have a hard time explaining Duke to Tèa. Still, Duke was older than Yugi, Kaiba or Tèa, by about four years. No doubt, Tèa would understand why they chose him as a servant.

"What time is it?", Solomon asked.

Yugi knew it wasn't directed at Duke, who wasn't even allowed to do so much as even look at a clock or book.

"2:15," Yugi answered.

"You've got fifteen minutes until your duel with Kaiba. You better make it to the arena, before you're late," Duke said.

Solomon grabbed a pair of scissors off the ground and cut a thread. He then grabbed Yugi's wrist, and ran off, Yugi trailing behind. Duke was shocked at the quick movements by both men, and ran after them.


	9. Chapter 9

Yugi was standing in a long tunnel, and daylight poured in. He heard footsteps behind him, well assuming it was Solomon or Duke, but he could spot them sitting in the crowd. He didn't know who the footsteps belonged to, until he heard the voice of the person making the footsteps.

"Yugi!", Kaiba called out.

Yugi turned around, and smiled. Kaiba lifted Yugi into his arms, then put him right back down. Yugi well assumed this was Kaiba's weird way of showing happiness without a smile, considering Kaiba almost never smiled.

"It's nice to know your attitude hasn't changed," Yugi said, jokingly.

"I can't believe it," Kaiba said, trying to change the subject of the conversation, "we're going to duel each other. I wonder who's going to win."

Yugi could hear a slight chance of tone in Kaiba's voice. Sarcasm. Kaiba had high confidence that he would win the duel, no matter what Yugi threw at him. Yugi didn't know why he was so confident, he had never acted this boastful before.

Kaiba had never bothered to tell his family or friends about the Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon, therefore, Yugi didn't know his motive behind his boastful attitude. Kaiba knew that through skills, luck, and cheating, he would be able to get it out onto the field, and win the duel. It had 4500 attack points, and the match would be fought with 4000 life points. No monster Yugi had packed in his deck could win him that duel, no monster was stronger.

Yugi looked at his watch: 2:28. He and Kaiba had two minutes before they would go out and duel in front of the whole town. That thought developed knots in Yugi's stomach. If he lost, he would be embarrassed and humiliated in front of everyone he knew. If he won, Kaiba would be humiliated in front of the whole town, and would be the laughing stock of the whole country. He wished the stakes weren't this high.

Yugi looked again. 2:29. One minute left. The thoughts running through his and Kaiba's mind were exactly the same: Tèa. They hadn't seen her in twelve years. How much of her had remained? How much of her had changed? Would she still think of them as her friends, or would she even recognize them? Neither was sure.

Yugi looked at the clock once more: 2:30. Kaiba had seen it, too, and walked out, to the edge of the tunnel. The announcer was still talking about the duel, and who would be competing in it.

"Today, our two competitors will be a home duelist, Yugi Muto, and the most famous duelist in the country, Seto Kaiba!", he announced.

At the mention of Kaiba's name, the crowd went wild. There was shouting, screaming, and people were waving little pendant flags with Kaiba's name printed on them. It seemed like the whole town was a huge Kaiba fan club. Yugi didn't hear one clap at the mention of his name, except the ones coming from Solomon and Duke.

"Now," the announcer shouted, "our guest duelist!"

Kaiba stepped out from the edge of the tunnel. The minute they saw him, the town went wild. One of the girls in the crowd looked like she was getting ready to faint. Yugi knew the girl. She was thirteen, she would've been three by the time Kaiba left Domino as a tournament duelist.

As the cheers and applause got louder, Solomon rolled his eyes. He didn't like Kaiba, believing his fame and over-confidence left Yugi in his shadow.

Ishizu and the Heathen King were watching in the distance. At the first sight of Kaiba, the Heathen King smiled. "I'm going to win.", he whispered to Ishizu.

"And out home duelist," the announcer continued, "Yugi Muto!"

As Yugi came out, Ishizu clapped her hands, albeit, in a ladylike manner. Solomon and Duke were applauding, too, but they were the only audience members to do so. No one stared at them like they were complete idiots, if they thought so, they kept their opinions to themselves.

The announcer kept going on. "These two duelists will compete in the greatest duel Domino has ever hosted! The winner gets a spot in the Duelist Hall of Fame, and the loser will have to give up any one card of their choice to their opponent. Are you ready?"

There was a large cheer from the crowd, but it soon turned into hushed silence. All of the audience members were staring at the opposite entrance, where audience members would enter and exit. There was a nineteen year old girl and her ward entering through the gate.

"The jewel of the town has returned!", one audience member whispered.

Tèa and Tristan walked up a set of stairs up to the balcony, where Pegasus was sitting. Tèa sat next to her father, Tristan on her other side. Pegasus wrapped an arm around his daughter, and she leaned into him.

"Now, everyone is here, and we're going into the duel of the century!", the announcer yelled. He walked away, as Yugi and Kaiba sat at a dueling table behind him.

They put their decks down, and shuffled five cards, as was the rules. Yugi stared at his hand: Double Coston, the Swords of Revealing Light spell card, Dark Magician, Dark Magician Girl, and the Mirror Force trap card. He knew just what to do.

"You can go first," Kaiba said.

Yugi drew a card from the top of his deck, the Magical Hats trap card.

"Okay," Yugi said, "first I'll play Double Coston in attack mode. Then I'll place two cards face down, and play the Swords of Revealing Light. I end my turn."

Darn, Kaiba thought, now I can't attack, I don't even have a trap or spell that can avoid that. And what are those two face downs, I wonder? I might have to experiment. Then again...

Kaiba drew a card. It was the card he had set on the top of his deck beforehand, and he was ready to do what he had wanted.

"First," he said, "I'll play the spell card Polymerization to combine these three Blue-Eyes White Dragons from my hand into the Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon!"

Yugi watched in horror as one of the strongest monsters that had ever existed came out onto the field, on the opposite side. Ishizu was in shock, too, unable to figure out how Kaiba had gotten his hands on such a legendary card. Thankfully, Yugi was protected from the attack for two more turns, but what would happen when the Swords of Revealing Light were gone?

Yugi drew another card, he knew Kaiba's turn was over. He had pulled the trap card Magic Cylinder. Why did he keep getting traps that only activated when your opponent attacked, when they were useless as long as the Swords of Revealing Light were on the field? Yugi didn't know.

He put the trap card face down.

"I put one card face down. I also tribute Double Coston to summon the Dark Magician in attack mode."

Yugi put Double Coston in the Graveyard, and brought the Dark Magician out onto the field.

"Yugi," Kaiba said, "you made a mistake. You need to tribute two monsters in order to summon the Dark Magician."

"Not necessarily," Yugi said, slightly more confident, "Double Coston can be counted as two tributes for the summon of a Dark monster, which the Dark Magician is!"

"It seems like Yugi, boy, is good on strategy.", Pegasus said.

Tèa smiled. "He's a good duelist. The funny part is, I've never seen him duel before."

She was waving a Japanese fan in front of her face, to the point where you found only see her eyes over it. Her kimono was white, with read trimming on the edge of the sleeves and at the hemming. Her waistband was also red. It seemed like, despite coming back from France, Tèa had tried to make it obvious that she was still Japanese.

"I never really met him. He gave me an outfit, and healed my injuries a little, but I never actually met Yugi. What's he like?", Tristan asked.

"A good friend," Tèa humbly answered.

Kaiba was in shock that Yugi had managed to get the Dark Magician out on his second turn, but he still attempted to keep it together, to the best of his ability. He had his hand on his forehead, elbow on the table, propping up his head and arm, trying to think if Yugi was cheating. No, Kaiba thought, Yugi's too honorable to cheat in a Duel. He just had good luck. I, on the other hand...

He smirked. Yugi stepped back. The infamous "Kaiba smirk". If any one of the Kaiba family members did that, it meant that something was about to happen. Good for them, bad for their opponent. Instead of drawing a card, Kaiba pulled a card out of his right sleeve. That was the minute Yugi noticed that Kaiba was wearing a professional duelist's uniform, too. That tidbit was enough to distract him from Kaiba's cheating.

"Now, I play the spell card Harpie's Feather Duster!", Kaiba shouted.

Tèa, Tristan, and Yugi all dropped their jaws (Tèa took her fan away from her face, too), staring at the card in Kaiba's hand. He didn't have that card in his deck, he shouldn't have. He didn't even have a Mystical Space Typhoon in his deck, something was up.

Yugi put all of his spell and trap cards from the field to the Graveyard. His Mirror Force, Magical Hats, and Magic Cylinder, and all of them only protected from attacks, not spell cards. He also realized that Kaiba got rid of his Swords of Revealing Light one turn early.

"Now, I'll summon Vorse Raider in attack mode, and I'll enter my battle phase! Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon, attack the Dark Magician!", Kaiba shouted.

Yugi's fear strengthened as he watched his Dark Magician get destroyed and sent to the graveyard. He was left with 2000 life points.

"Vorse Raider, attack directly!", Kaiba yelled.

Yugi took 1900 damage to his Life Points, and he was left with 100. If he didn't do something to turn the game around, he was going to lose the duel.

Yugi drew his card. He had the Book of Moon. It was something, but it wasn't enough. Even though it would do practically nothing for him, he played it.

"I play the Book of Moon spell card," Yugi said, "to send your Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon into face down defense position. That's my turn."

Kaiba chuckled as he drew a card. "That was useless," he said, "I flip summon the Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon back into face up attack position, and I'll use it to attack!"

Yugi had nothing to fight back with. He watched in horror as the Life Point counter showed his side go down to zero, while Kaiba's stayed at a perfect 4000.

"Yugi Muto," the announcer shouted, now at the microphone again, "you have lost! You will have to give up any one card to your opponent, Seto Kaiba!"

Yugi dug through his pockets. He would just give Kaiba the first card that came into his hand. He looked. He had pulled out the Mystical Space Typhoon spell card. He handed it over to Kaiba.

"I heard you needed it, anyway," Yugi whispered as he walked back down the tunnel.

Kaiba didn't chase after him. He craved the attention he was being given, and merely shoved the card he was handed away, as if he didn't care about it. Tèa was now standing, Tristan holding her fan as she kept both hands gripped tight on the balcony railing in anger.

"Kaiba cheated, I know he did!", she shouted, "He took a card out of his sleeve, when Yugi wasn't looking! He cheated!"

Pegasus put a hand on his daughter's shoulder, and her grip on the railing loosened. "Calm down, Tèa. We're far away from the table, and we're high up. It might have looked like he was cheating, but I'm absolutely sure that he didn't. Follow me."

She took her hands off of the balcony railing entirely, and Tristan handed her her fan. She unfolded it and put it back over her face as she followed her father, Tristan behind her. The whole time, she couldn't get her mind off of Yugi, and how he was cheated out of a worthwhile duel.

The Heathen King laughed. "I'm sorry, my dear, that poor boy never had a chance," he told Ishizu, "good game, though."

He stuck his hand out for Ishizu to shake, but she just looked at Yugi, who was standing in the middle of the arena, alone. Solomon was most likely so ashamed of him, he didn't want to see him. Duke, legally belonging to Solomon, was probably commanded to follow him, and he obeyed.

Ishizu smiled. "It's not over."

She looked back over to Yugi, and the Heathen King met her gaze. He was now on his knees, looking down. He seemed to be crying, or staring at the ground, but he was going through his deck.

"I worked so hard on this for days," he whispered to himself, "how could I lose in four turns? It doesn't make sense."

Yugi didn't see it, but Ishizu and the Heathen King did. Tèa was once again standing on the balcony, listening as hard as she could to Yugi and watching his actions.

"Yugi...", she whispered, remorseful.

"Tèa!", Kaiba called out, in the distance.

Tèa, unsure of what to do, ran in the direction Kaiba's voice came from, not wanting to ignore him.

"What just happened?", the Heathen King shouted, in anger.

"You don't know women, my love.", Ishizu informed him, stroking his hair slightly as she walked by.

The Heathen King was aggravated, but he flew off to chase after his love, Ishizu.


	10. Chapter 10

There was a stampede. People were running into Domino, and no one knew who it was. Every citizen was gathered in Town Square, watching the group of people storm into town. Soon, they had formed in three lines of five, with the line in the middle extending to six.

"It's nice to know we could be here," the sixth man in the middle line said, "and if you're not familiar with us, we work for Emperor Alister! So, just give us your valuable Duel Monsters cards, and we'll be on our way! If you don't give them up voluntarily...", he smiled.

He's the leader when Alister's not. That must be Valon, Kaiba thought.

"STOP!", Kaiba shouted.

Valon and the group turned to face Kaiba. The whole group huddled together, facing out towards him, each one holding a revolver and pointing it at him. Valon kept his gun put away, and walked towards Kaiba.

"Stop doing what," he asked, "our job?"

"If your job is to take other people's Duel Monsters cards, then yes. How about this," Kaiba suggested, "we duel. The person who wins gets their way. If I win, you leave. If you win, you can have our cards."

Valon smiled again. "Fine, I accept."

The two shook hands, and pulled out their decks. Pegasus led the two to a table that he had set up in Town Square. Their decks were shuffled by others, and they each drew five cards, as is the rules.

Little did the town, and each duelist, know, Kaiba and Valon were each going up against a cheater. This duel was going to be a showdown between the two most dishonorable duelists known to man.

Valon would draw the five cards from his deck. Then, when no one was looking, he would take a card out of his sleeve, slip it into his hand, and take one "useless" card out of his hand to put back in his sleeve. Valon believed it to be strategy, but others, and the rulebook, considered it cheating.

Valon looked over to the crowd. He smiled again. "Hey, kid," he said to Kaiba, despite the fact Valon was younger, "what about this? Along with getting their way, the winner gets her."

He pointed to Tèa, who was being caressed by her father. She seemed to be crying tears, but a fragment of her face could be seen, showing she was simply tense.

"What?! That's not right! You can't decide a girl's future for her!", Kaiba shouted.

Valon smirked. "I think it's fair. If you win, the girl does what she wants, or you do what you want with her. If I win, I get the girl's hand in marriage."

Pegasus looked on, listening well. He knew it wasn't right for two men who didn't fully know his daughter to be deciding his future for her, but their argument was promising.

"Fine," Kaiba said, Because we all know I'm going to win.

Kaiba angled his head over to look at Tèa. She was actually now crying tears, and they were falling onto her father's robe, some on his hand. It was as if she wanted freedom, for her fate to be destiny, rather than for her to be controlled, like a slave.

Kaiba was so distracted, it gave Valon a chance. He slipped five cards out of the sleeve of his robe, and put the hand he drew back into his sleeve.

"I'll go first," Valon said.

He started at his hand. Exodia the Forbidden One. Left Arm of the Forbidden One. Left Leg of the Forbidden One. Right Arm of the Forbidden One.

Swords of Revealing Light?

Valon did something wrong, he knew it. He couldn't dive for his sleeve now, or he would be accused of cheating, which he was doing. The last piece wasn't in his deck, so he was stuck. He drew a card. An eight star monster, he couldn't play that.

"I play the spell card Swords of Revealing Light, and I end my turn," Valon hastily said.

Kaiba drew his card, and smiled. "I play the spell card Polymerization to combine the three Blue-Eyes White Dragons in my hand to form the Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon!"

Valon gaped at the monster he was facing. Heathen King Bakura stole that from Emperor Alister years ago! How did he... Valon didn't understand.

"Then I Normal Summon the monster Copycat in Attack Mode! This allows it's Attack and Defense to become equal to my Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon's, meaning it has 4500 attack! Then, I play the spell card Mystical Space Typhoon, to destroy your Swords of Revealing Light! Then, Copycat and the Ultimate Dragon will attack, to take out your Life Points!"

Valon fell to his knees. It was a First Turn Kill that Kaiba had just managed to pull off. "Retreat!", Valon shouted, and Valon and the rest of Emperor Alister's thugs ran away.

The whole town started cheering. "You're a hero!", the same 13 year-old tangible shouted at Kaiba.

Tèa nodded. "You fought well," she told him.

"Well, Tèa, I was wondering, would you...", Kaiba stopped midsentence.

Tèa walked closer to Kaiba. He sighed. "If we could just continue our conversation?"

Tèa sighed. "Tèa, girl," Pegasus said, "you do realize, Kaiba will leave in a few days, and they're precious days."

Pegasus pulled Tèa away from Kaiba and whispered into her ear. "Marriage. He'll stay here if you marry him. Just give him a chance."

Tèa turned to Kaiba, who was holding his hand out for Tèa to grab. She put her hand into his. "So, why don't tell me about the championships?"

"Oh, well, when I got there," he started walking off, Tèa's hand in his, "I was one of two hundred competitors, but..."

The two had soon walked off so far, none of the citizens could hear any word of the conversation. Yugi sighed as Duke and his grandfather walked home, and he followed in their wake.


	11. Chapter 11

"I don't like Kaiba!", Syrus shouted in the middle of the story.

"Why?", Mai asked.

"Because," Syrus explained, "he cheats, and it looks like all he wants is to win Tèa's affection! Besides, he beat Yugi, and the Heathen King chose him. That's not good!"

"Do not judge a book by its cover, Syrus," Mai said as she continued with the story.

If I never told it to her, how does she know my name?, Syrus wondered to himself.


	12. Chapter 12

That night, Pegasus threw a grand dinner party to celebrate Tèa's return. The thing was, he had bigger plans.

Kaiba, Pegasus, and Tèa were all sitting at the same small, circular table. Tèa had Pegasus on her left, and Kaiba on her right. She moved her chair over, so she was sitting closer to her father than the duelist she believed to be a dirty cheater.

"It's too bad you'll only be in town for a few days. If only there was something that could make you stay," Pegasus said," like maybe a special girl!"

Tèa pounded her first on the table, nearly hitting her father's hand. "Father!", she scolded him.

"What did I say?", Pegasus asked, trying to sound innocent.

Kaiba smiled, as Tèa tried to change subjects. "Oh, my father," she said, "he can sound a little crazy sometimes."

"Yes," Kaiba said," but he's making it sound like you need to get married. I'll tell you, you're going to make a man very happy. And I hope that man's outfits- or Duel Monsters- make you very happy."

Tèa gasped in shock, but she kept her cool. "And I'll cook and clean for him, and be at his beck and call.", she said in a dreamy voice.

"That's sounds so good, you just... sound so, so, you're... just so pretty...", Kaiba couldn't get the words out of his mouth right.

Tèa went back to her normal tone. "Are you kidding me?", she asked him.

One of the men in the back dropped his glass. Pegasus sighed.

"Is that how you see a woman?", Tèa asked.

"Isn't that how everyone does?", Kaiba asked in return.

Tèa was disgusted. She got up from the table. "I believe I have lost my appetite. Bonsoir."

She walked up the stairs, towards her bedroom, and Tristan was at the top of the stairs waiting for her. The two walked up the second flight of stairs together, arm in arm.

"Was that French?", Kaiba asked, disgruntled.

"Yes. She told us 'good night', she was trying to get away. Why don't you just keep eating and partying, we'll talk about Tèa later.", Pegasus said.

Everyone followed Pegasus's directions and carried the night away, not caring that the person the party was held for was upstairs, away from them.


	13. Chapter 13

"I don't get it," Tèa said aloud, laying on her bed in her night robes. "They treat me like I'm a doll. They toss me around, trying to decide my fate for me, and I have no control over it."

She expected a response from Tristan, but all she heard was snoring. Tristan had already put himself to sleep trying to keep it together.

She smiled as she covered her self with the blanket on her bed. She closed her eyes, and brought herself back to the duel.

"I play the spell card Harpie's Feather Duster!", Kaiba had shouted.

Kaiba had pulled a card out from his sleeve.

Tèa stood up and walked out onto the balcony outside her bedroom. She kept replaying that five second memory in her head. Kaiba pulled a card out from his sleeve and played a spell card that wasn't in his deck. He smuggled an emergency card in, and used it to win.

Tèa was probably the only one that even suspected Kaiba of cheating. her father and Tristan didn't believe her, and the rest of the town were some of the biggest Kaiba fans on Earth. The only other person that might have ever developed the thought of Kaiba cheating could be...

Yugi.

Yugi was much closer to the duel than Tèa was. The next time she saw him, Tèa would question Yugi about seeing Kaiba cheat, and if he did, Yugi was getting his plaque in the Duelist's Hall of Fame, and he was getting his card back, and a new one with it. Tèa would make sure justice was served.

She walked back over to her bed, and fell into it. She covered herself with the same blanket. She could hear the idle chatter coming from downstairs, but disappointingly (to Tèa) none of the voices she heard were Yugi's, and she couldn't find it, no matter how hard she listened. Eventually, she gave up on trying to listen for him, and dosed off to sleep.


	14. Chapter 14

"Yugi, you're worthless. The whole Muto family would be so disappointed in you.", Solomon scolded his grandson.

Yugi was making adjustments to Solomon's duelist's uniform. "Please, don't say that," Yugi begged.

Duke was standing off to the side, holding cloths, a spare outfit, needles, and thread just like last time. He wanted to stay as quiet as possible, and avoid another beating. He didn't know if Solomon was as abusive as his previous master, and he wasn't going to find out the hard way. He wasn't sure if he wanted to find out at all.

"How can I not? You lost a Duel," Solomon complained, "in public! This is humiliation, beyond words! If you were a good duelist, you wouldn't have lost! I wouldn't have had to admit defeat, I could've packed up and gone home a happy man! But I couldn't, because you lost! I'm so embarrassed! I don't think I can ever show my face in public again, knowing that my grandson, my only family left, lost his first public duel, for the first time in Muto family history!"

Solomon was ranting and raving, and Yugi didn't know what to do. Duke heard every word, and he couldn't take it anymore. He threw the sewing materials to the side, and walked to Solomon.

"Listen up, Solomon, 'cause I'm only going to say this once," Duke yelled, "You had Yugi duel Seto Kaiba. Yugi's a great duelist, I'll say that, but he doesn't have that high a skill level yet! He wasn't ready for such a hard duel, he needed more practice! But, no, you absolutely had to show how great the Muto family is, and you had to set Yugi up in what practically looked like a life or death duel! And, you. You said you could never show your face in public again because your grandson lost the duel! One problem with that, Yugi would be the one who was embarrassed, not you! He's the duelist who went up against Seto Kaiba, he's the one who was right in front of him at that dueling table! And what were you doing? You were just cheering him on, not even bothering to care because you knew he would win this duel, but he didn't! He lost, and what was that phrase? Life is all about making mistakes, and learning from them ! Yugi made a mistake, and he learned his lesson! That's all that happened! But you went out of your way to make him feel bad about making a mistake, and now, he's paying for something that's so small! You're acting like a total jerk, Solomon! A jerk!"

Duke was breathing hard, regaining air from the long speech he had just given. Yugi was smiled, pleased with it, but Solomon did not look amused.

"Get out!", Solomon shouted, "both of you! Get out of my house, and don't come back until daybreak tomorrow! Get out!"

Yugi and Duke understood, and ran for their lives, right out the door. They would run into Town Square, and be safe.


	15. Chapter 15

"Tristan, did you hear a word I just said?", Tèa asked her ward, perturbed.

Tristan looked at his mistress, one eyebrow raised. Tèa scoffed.

"I said we're going to find Yugi, and talk to him about Kaiba! If saw him take that card out of his sleeve, like I did, then we know Kaiba cheated at that match! And, if Kaiba did cheat, then Yugi will end up in the Duelist's Hall of Fame, and Yugi will get his card back! He'll get a new one, too, as long as my theory is correct.", Tèa stated.

Tristan made a grunt of acknowledgement, to which Tèa smiled at. She was looking for Yugi, but she didn't know who to ask where they might have seen him. Luckily, the answer ran right into her... literally.

While walking, someone had run directly into Tèa, and the two both fell to the ground. Tèa had dropped her fan, and Tristan picked it up and gave it to her. She unfolded it again, and put it back in front of her face.

"You bastard!", she yelled at the pedestrian, "watch where you're going!"

She got back up onto her feet.

"Do you really think I'm a bastard, Tèa?", Yugi asked, being held up by Duke.

Tèa took her fan down, and clasped her hand over her mouth. "Yugi! Oh, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to...!", sudden realization hit her. She could ask Yugi now. "Also, Yugi, I have a question to ask."

Yugi was now standing on both of his feet without any added assistance. He looked up at Tèa, who was smiling.

"At the match, did you happen to see Kaiba pull a card out of his sleeve and play it? I thought I saw him do it, but I can't be sure. That might be where the Harpie's Feather Duster card might have come from. What about you," Tèa asked him.

"Bold theory," Yugi complimented her, "but I didn't see him do that. Besides, he might've made some adjustments to his deck. Twelve years is a long time, you know."

Tèa brought her fan back up in front of her face. I guess Yugi wasn't cheated out of a fair match, after all., she thought.

She walked off, and Tristan followed her. Yugi walked off in the opposite direction, Duke at his side. The Heathen King watched in the distance, smiling.

 _Great_ , he thought, _no one suspects Kaiba of cheating, and my dear Ishizu doesn't know I gave him that card. It's like everything's finally going right for me!_

He flew off, to the Land of Forgotten Souls, thinking that nothing could stop him from getting what he wanted.


	16. Chapter 16

A long, long time ago, I can still remember how that music, used to make me smile,? Ishizu sang, lighting a spare candle.

There was a knock. Ishizu glided across the floor, and answered the door. Heathen King Bakura was on the doorstep. Ishizu's smile quickly disappeared from her face, and she slammed the door closed, the Heathen King still on the outside.

He started knocking again. She opened the door once more, but decided to let him in.

"And don't take the silver," Ishizu commanded.

"What about the gold? Or the crystal? Or the rubies?", the Heathen King asked her repeatedly. With every item he mentioned, his wings brought him closer to the ceiling.

"No. Keep your klyptomania under control tonight. Heathen King, you might as well be the Thief King, you're so grabby!", Ishizu complained.

The Heathen King smiled. "I've stolen plenty from you," he was flying, Ishizu still on the ground, the Heathen King's hands on her shoulders. "But you stole something from me."

Ishizu stepped back, to stop the Heathen King from touching her. "What? I tell you, if I ever stole something, it was unintentionally. I don't steal."

He flew over to her, and put his hands back on her shoulders. "You stole my heart, darling."

Ishizu screamed, very briefly. "I don't know what I was thinking all those centuries ago! We're complete opposites, we don't deserve these!"

She thrust her hand out for the Heathen King to see the gold band on her finger, with a diamond on top. The Heathen King looked down at his, which was a silver band with a sapphire.

"Please, I love you. Don't let it be this way," the Heathen King begged.

Ishizu had her eyes closed and her back turned. The Heathen King flew right out the door.

"I can't take him. I just can't!", Ishizu pounded her fists on the table, then broke down crying. "But I can't live without him..."

Her brother, Marik, walked over to her. "Don't worry," he said, "he'll forgive you, and you'll forgive him."

She pounded her first again, sudden enough to make Marik jump. "I don't want to forgive him!" She started crying harder.

Marik turned to the mirror. This mirror was the window to the mortal world. He could see anything he wanted through it.

"Mirror," he commanded it, "show me what Yugi Muto is doing now."

The mirror turned smoky. Marik could no longer see his reflection, but he now saw an image of what Yugi was doing, through a mirror nearby.

"I'm sorry. Maybe if I hadn't given a 'speech', this wouldn't have happened."

Marik couldn't identify the voice. He wasn't even within proximity to the mirror, so Marik couldn't find out who the voice belonged to.

"It's not your fault.", another voice said.

Marik knew that voice, and he could see it through the mirror. That was Yugi Muto.

"No, it is.", the first voice said.

A boy, he had to be a little older than Yugi, came within the image. Looking at him, Marik still didn't know who he was, but he knew what he looked like, now.

His hair was black and some of it was pulled off to the side and brought up. He was wearing a band across his forehead, dark orange with a black zigzag pattern. He had a single piercing in his right ear, and a single earring hanging from it. It looked like a six-sided die on a needle. He was wearing a pair of torn jeans, a black short sleeve shirt with a bleach stain on the front, and his red vest was torn at the ends, and it had darker spots. It was clear his clothing had seen better days.

But that said nothing for his injuries. He had a long straight gash across the left side of his face, it stopped at his chin and ran up. Marik couldn't tell where it started, the beginning of the thin slash was covered by the boy's hairband. He had two slits across his wrist, and it looked like a major blood loss could've occurred from those two cuts. Though the tears in his jeans, Marik figured out that there was a deep cut across the boy's leg, and it could've affected his ability to walk forever, if he didn't recover right. This child was incredibly lucky, in his way of managing to survive after taking all of these injuries that had left such terrible scars behind.

"Duke, don't blame everything on yourself!", Yugi shouted at the boy.

Now Marik had a name to go with the boy's appearance. Taking his information to the side, Marik saved images of the boy and wrote his name off to the side.

"Mirror, turn off window.", Marik said.

The mirror now showed Marik's reflection once again.

"Search mortal and otherworldly internet for this image," he slid an image over on the side of the mirror to the middle of it, "and try to match it with the name Duke."

The mirror stayed quiet for a few seconds, before bringing up results. The mirror spoke, speaking it's results to Marik aloud.

"This boy," it said, "is known as Duke Devlin."

Devlin, Marik thought, where have I heard that name before?

"When he was eight, his parents were murdered in an alleyway. He tried to fight back, but did not succeed in saving his parents, and now sports a long running scar down the side of his face. The year after, he felt he couldn't live on thievery, or without his parents, and so he stole a knife from a nearby restaurant and attempted suicide. When that failed, he was captured and put on the slave market. He was first sold to Gozaburo Kaiba, adoptive father of well-known duelist Seto Kaiba. After an abusive encounter with Gozaburo, Duke ran away, and was put into the hands of the less abusive Muto family, whom he is still with."

Marik tapped his fingers in unison on the desk that the mirror was sitting on.

"If he's this unimportant, why is everything about him over the net?", Marik asked.

"His father was a famous duelist. David Devlin was a duelist who used Warrior and Machine monsters to the best of his ability, and became the winner of three national duelist championships.", it told him.

That's where I've heard it before! David Devlin, he was my idol! Now, to be in a situation where I might have an encounter with his son...

The smile on Marik's face widened.

"Thanks, mirror. Shut off for the night.", Marik commanded the reflective glass.

It went black, not even bothering to show a reflection. Marik walked by his older sister, who had cried herself to sleep, and went into his own room.


	17. Chapter 17

"Now, we're going to the Pegasus manor. I don't want any arguments, and I don't want any speeches. Got it?", Solomon asked.

Yugi and Duke nodded their heads, unsure of whether or not to give a verbal answer. Solomon turned away from them, and the three walked into Pegasus's mansion, all at once.

There was so much around them, Yugi and Duke couldn't take it all in. There was a large door at the top of a staircase, which had a platform at the bottom of it. To get off the platform, you could go left or right, either way, you would walk down a flight of stairs. The left brought you to a series of doors, one right after the other, up against the wall. The right brought you into the kitchen, which was a wonder by itself.

It seemed to have quartz for walls, and shiny, new tile for floors. In between those tiles was a trim that was gold in color. The counters were made of polished and coated marble, and the dishes had been freshly washed. There was a pan of lasagna out on the counter, next to the stove. There was a pot cooking on the stove, and the oven was on, the timer saying 00:17 left. It seemed like chef had just left the kitchen, and Yugi and Duke weren't sure if anyone was coming back to check on the meal.

"Hello, is someone there?", a feminine voice yelled.

Yugi looked up. Tèa was standing on the platform with the double staircases, holding a fan in front of her face, like she always did. Her kimono was white, with a red waistband and matching sleeve trimming. Her fan was identical to the Japanese flag, a white background with a red sun right in the center.

"Your honor," Solomon said to Tèa, bowing.

Yugi wondered if it was just her father's position that gave her the special treatment, such as being called "your honor". Her father was the mayor, he was the one who should've been called "your honor".

Yugi stepped closer to Tèa, Duke right behind him. "Sorry about my grandfather," he whispered, "he's senile."

Tèa giggled, but she maintained a low tone, making sure Solomon didn't hear her. "Mister Muto," she said to Solomon, "wait in the living room, my father will be right with you."

She bowed royally, as if to convince Solomon she was bound to her word. Solomon replied with a quick nod of his head and darted for the living room. Tèa grabbed a hold of Yugi's wrist, and ran off. Yugi tripped over his own feet trying to keep up.

They ran upstairs and down hallways before stopping. They had run down three hallways and run up four flights of stairs before stopping in front of a cherry red door.

"My bedroom," she said, letting go of Yugi's wrist and opening the door.

We went all the way to the fifth story just to get to her bedroom?, Yugi thought, sighing.

Duke came up behind them, breathing hard. Yugi looked back at him quickly, and pointed down the stairs.

"I did so much to get here!", Duke whisper-shouted.

"Well, it was a waste of your time, then. Leave.", Yugi whispered.

The two whisper-shouted back and forth for a few minutes before Tèa stood in front of them. She cleared her throat, and the boy's stopped in the middle of their argumentative sentences.

"Yugi, who is this?", she asked, pointing at Duke.

"This," Yugi said, shoving Duke behind him, "is my servant, Duke."

Tèa smiled. "Well, then, you can go to the basement, Duke. My ward, Tristan is down there. He was once a slave, himself, so you two will get along. Go on."

Tèa and Yugi both stared at Duke until he was halfway down the first flight of stairs. They then walked into Tèa's room, hand in hand. Tèa walked over to her bedside table, and pulled a small box out of a drawer.

"This is my Duel Monsters deck. Did you bring yours?", Tèa asked.

Yugi pulled his deck out of his pocket, and he smiled along with Tèa. She set a silicone mat out on the playing Tèa, and she and Yugi sat on opposite ends of the table. They shuffled their decks, and drew five cards.

"I'll go first," Tèa said, and drew a card, "I play Shining Friendship in attack mode, and equip it with Silver Bow and Arrow. It has 1600...", she stopped.

There was a scream. It was a bloodcurdling scream, that sent goosebumps up Tèa's arms, and made Yugi jump. They ran out the door, and down three of the four stair flights. They peeked off the railing, to see Pegasus lying on the ground, covered in blood. Solomon was nowhere to be seen, and Tristan and Duke were tending to the mayor.

"What the heck happened here?!", Tèa shouted, running down the stairs to her father.

"We don't know," Tristan said, bandaging Pegasus's arm, "we heard someone scream, and we came to find this."

"I looked all around the house. I can't find Master Solomon," Duke followed.

Tèa started to cry as she came onto her knees, next to her father on the floor. She covered her face with her fan, so Yugi, Tristan, and Duke didn't see the tears rolling down her face.

But Yugi had already seen it.

"Grandpa!", Yugi kept shouting, "Grandpa! If you did this, tell us! Tell us! This isn't right! Tell us who did it! Tell us!"

Duke moved away from Pegasus, whom Yugi assumed was now dead, and walked over to Yugi, who was still yelling at his grandfather. He didn't see or hear Tèa fall to the ground with a thud, for Tristan to run to her aid. Yugi was crying too hard to notice.

Solomon deserves to go to Hell, Duke thought, even if he didn't do this to Mayor Pegasus. He kicked Yugi out of his own home, me, too. Furthermore, if he ran away when Pegasus got near-murdered, he could've gone and got help. He probably just ran home, like the coward he is.

"Yugi...", Duke whispered.

He looked. There weren't any tears running down his face, but his eyes were watering. Duke wasn't sure if he was upset because of his grandfather's possible actions, or for what had happened to Tèa's father.

"I need to go," Yugi said, and ran out the door.


	18. Chapter 18

He ran down the paths of the town, and ran out the town gate. He had never, ever, been outside of the town limits. He had been born in that town, and his grandfather had banned him from ever walking a step past the town gates. Solomon had sworn to Yugi's mother, while she was on her deathbed, that he would keep his only living relative safe.

A little late for that, Yugi thought.

He walked even farther past the gates, walking on the dock, to the small island with a tree right in the middle. It was an oak tree, and it was almost one hundred feet tall. It had supposedly been there for decades. It provided a large shade patch, and Yugi sat under it.

"It was Grandpa's fault," Yugi whispered.

"Well, now Pegasus is dead," a voice said, "and his daughter along with him."

Yugi opened his eyes in shock. "Tèa's dead?!"

"Yes, I'm afraid so," the voice responded, "she committed suicide out of grief."

"No! She wouldn't do that," Yugi shouted, unsure if he was arguing with a voice in his head.

"Yes, she did. Without telling anyone."

"I wish I could see her again, at least tell her goodbye," Yugi grieved.

"Think about what you say, boy."

The Heathen King was standing in front of Yugi. Yugi didn't know who he was, and he wasn't sure if he was trustworthy or not.

"Are you certain you want to see Tèa again?", he asked.

Yugi clutched the silver pendant Tèa had given him, almost twelve years ago, in his right hand. "With all my heart."

The Heathen King smiled. "Done." He snapped his fingers.

A boy came out from behind him. He had dirty blond hair, and lavender-colored eyes. He was wearing a robe, white on the right side, and black on the left. He was holding two small devices in between two of his fingers, it looked like a microchip.

The boy walked behind Yugi, and stuck both chips on the back of Yugi's neck. Yugi fell to his feet, breathing hard. His lungs were blocked, he couldn't get air into his lungs. He passed out, face down on the ground.

"Come on, Marik," the Heathen King ordered the boy.

Marik was well aware of what was about to happen to Yugi, and not a smidgen of his soul cared. The only thing he cared about was obeying his master well.


	19. Chapter 19

"What?!", all five students shouted at once.

Mai stared at them, surprised.

Syrus was tossing his arms around. "Pegasus died, and Tèa died, now Yugi's, probably, dead! What is it with the Japanese and death?!", he asked.

"Remember Pearl Harbor," Bastian pointed out.

"Thanks a lot, Captain Obvious!", Syrus shouted.

"You're welcome, Lieutenant Sarcasm!", Bastian shouted back.

The two stared into each other's eyes, both sets full of hatred.

"Can we get back to the story?", Chumley asked.

"What's the use," Jaden yelled, "it's already over!"

Mai started smiling again. "Dear, sweet Jaden. This is not the end."

 _How? I never said my name, and no one else did either_ , Jaden thought.


	20. Chapter 20

Yugi woke up where he had fallen down. Just a bad reaction, he thought, just a bad reaction.

He turned back toward the town gate. He would run back into town and find his grandfather. The one problem was, he didn't find the town behind him.

There was a huge parade going on. The sky was black, but the colors of the buildings, parade floats, and even people's clothing were vibrantly colored. Yugi looked at his outfit, which had turned from navy blue to a glowing electric blue.

He looked down at his hands. They were skeletal, a solid white. We wished there was a mirror around, so he could see what happened to the rest of him. He walked forward, but was stopped by a man on a horse.

"Hello," he said to Yugi, "and welcome to the Land of Remembered Ones! I know, you're probably excited, but try not to take it in all at once. Let's start with your name."

"Yugi Muto," he responded.

"Muto? Man, you don't see many of them around anymore! Let's go!"

Yugi got on the horse, right behind this Gate Guard. The horse took off, and soon they were blazing through the Domino section of the Land of Remembered Ones. Yugi looked around.

He saw people that he knew had died recently, people that his grandfather had mentioned, who had died before Yugi was born. Yugi recognized them all, just by looking at them. Descriptions that his grandfather had given him were enough for Yugi to know them.

"There," the Gate Guard said, "your family is on that float there."

Yugi stepped off the horse, and it took off in the way it had just come. He climbed the tall tower of a float he had just been set onto, and watched from the top. As he tried to climb a step higher, his foot slipped, and he started to fall almost a mile down.

He thought he was going to die (he forgot he was already dead), as soon as he hit the ground. The problem with that was he never hit the ground.

Someone had caught him on the way down. He was safe in the arms of a girl, she looked about 16. She set him down onto his feet, brushed dust off his pants.

"Are you alright?", she asked Yugi, her voice sugary.

Yugi stared at her. Her hands and arms were skeletal, too, her hands and arms resembling that which you would see on one of those skeleton models you might see in a doctor's office. Her face was like a skeleton, too, but she had working teeth. It seemed that the girl could still see, but her eyes were merely sockets, with a glowing green dot inside.

"I'm fine. Hi," Yugi said, and stuck out his hand for the girl to shake.

She shook his hand, like he had expected. "It's nice to meet you," she said, "I'm Emily. Emily Muto."

Yugi smiled, teeth showing. "You're my great-great-great aunt!", he shouted!

Emily smiled, too. "I thought you looked familiar. You look an awful lot like my brother, Terry. He must be your great-great-great grandfather. Come on, let's go find her."

Emily grabbed Yugi's hand, and the two walked off.

"I'm Yugi, by the way.", he blurted out.

"Wasn't your mother's middle name Yuri?", Emily asked.

"Yeah. My grandfather actually named me, because my father was dead around the time I was born. He decided to name me after my mother who was, unknowingly at the time, dying from giving birth to me. I was about a week old when she died.", Yugi told her. Emily put a hand on his shoulder out of remorse.

As they were walking forward, a boy who had to be about as old as Duke jumped in front of them.

"Hi, Emma! Who's your new friend?!", he shouted.

"This is my great-great-great nephew. Get out of the way, Jake. Yugi, this is your cousin, father's side.", Emily said.

"I died from starvation, I was a slave," Jake told Yugi, "what'd you do?"

"I'm not sure," Yugi said.

Jake shrugged his shoulders. " Don't worry, you'll find out. Well, hate to be in the way of progress in the making. Onward, yon citizens!", Jake shouted, and stepped out of the way to let them pass.

Emily smiled at Jake as she grabbed Yugi's hand to walk forward. "He's not so weird, once you get to know him," she said, tucking a lock of hair behind her ear.

They trudged on, and had walked almost 10 meters when they were stopped again. This time, it was a pair of girls who looked almost identical. The only difference was that one of them was wearing a sweater, and the other was wearing a leather jacket.

"Hi," the girl in the sweater said.

"Emma.", the girl in the leather jacket said.

"How's it," the first girl said.

"Going?", the second one said.

"Who's your," the first girl said.

"Little friend?", the second girl said.

Emily sighed. "Yugi, these are your great-great aunts. The girl in the sweater is Camilla, the girl in the jacket is Cynthia."

Camilla and Cynthia waved at him in unison. "It's nice to," Camilla said.

"Meet you.", Cynthia finished.

Emily just face palmed, and shoved Yugi over to the side. She gestured a fake smile at Camilla and Cynthia before grabbing Yugi's hand again, and running away. She hid behind a prop rock on one of the floats and started hyperventilating, like she had just got the wind knocked out of her.

"Sorry," she sighed, "they're annoying. They finish each other's sentences, and they're never without the other. Seriously. Cynthia died from complications with cancer. When she died, Camilla committed suicide to stay with her. They were put in the same coffin, buried at the same spot. Their tombstone is even etched Camilla Williams and Cynthia Muto. Those two never leave one another."

"Sisters," Yugi whispered, speaking in a sarcastic tone.

"No," Emily said, "they're girlfriend and girlfriend."

A chill went up Yugi's spine. "Let's go," he said hastily. He grabbed Emily's wrist, and they ran off.

After a few more minutes of walking, Emily stopped and pointed to a spiral staircase, with a flat platform on top. The platform was guarded by railing, with a gate to close the gap, forming a perfect circle of polished spruce wood stair railing. There was a familiar woman standing there, dancing, and occasionally throwing flowers.

"My mother!", Yugi happily shouted.

"Go," Emily whispered to him, and pushed him closer to the staircase.

He ran up that staircase without hesitation. He wanted to see his mother. He had never met her, but he recognized her from pictures, and his grandfather's detailed description of her. Within half a minute, he had gotten himself to the top of that staircase, and had his hands gripped on the edge of the railing.

"Mom! Mom!", he kept shouting.

The woman stopped, and turned around. She was wearing a gown that reached her feet. Her high heels were blue, and open-toed. Her gown had a short sleeve on one side, and a strap on the other. The trimming of the sleeve and skirt was a golden yellow, and the rest of the dress was sapphire blue. It fit her well, there wasn't any showing of it being tight or baggy on her. It seemed to fit her perfectly. She was wearing white silk gloves, that fit perfectly to her hands.

She stared at Yugi for a few minutes, unsure of what she was seeing. Then, suddenly, she opened the gate on the railing. She put her hands on Yugi's shoulders.

"Is it really you," she whispered.

"It's me, Mom," Yugi said to her.

She smiled, and tears started forming in her eyes. She took her hands off of Yugi's shoulders and hugged them around him in a tight hug. He started to cough.

"You're choking me," he whispered, out of breath.

She loosened her grip, but remained hugging. "I can't believe it. I've been waiting so long for you." She brought him out of the hug, and put her hands back on his shoulders. "But, not long enough. What are you doing here?"

Yugi sighed. "Grandpa did something awful. He killed Mayor Pegasus, and his daughter. I'm here to see them again."

She smiled. "So, you're in love with the mayor's daughter," his mother said, jokingly, "I haven't seen the mayor or his daughter anywhere."

Yugi was confused. "Was Pegasus was mayor when you were alive?", he asked his mother.

"He was elected mayor just three weeks before his wife gave birth to his daughter. That's when poor Cecilia died. Just a few months later, I had you.", his mother explained.

"What about Dad," Yugi said, "is he here?"

His mother stayed quiet, she didn't answer. She grabbed Yugi's hand. "Why don't we go talk to Goddess Ishizu? She rules here, she'll help you find Tèa."

They both walked down the staircase. When they got there, there were almost fifty people at the bottom, and it seemed like they were all waiting for Yugi and his mother.

"We'll get introduced later, we're going to Goddess Ishizu's palace," his mother explained.

The float they were on started moving, as if it had heard the words Yugi's mother had been saying, and took out on autopilot. It moved at a comfortable place, one Jake found much too slow.

"Wait," Yugi realized, "you know her name? You know, Pegasus's daughter's?"

His mother nodded. "I knew the Pegasus family very well. Cecelia invited me over to her house often, and we would talk. We were both pregnant with you two at around the same time, so we would talk about what we were going to name them, and everything. Cecelia had already decided on the name the minute she found out she was going to have a daughter. Me, I wasn't sure, even though I knew I was going to have a son. Apparently, your grandfather named you after me.", his mother said.

"Yeah. I like it, because it reminds me of you," Yugi told her.

His mother planted a kiss on his cheek. He started to blush, although Yugi knew it was his own mother that did it. Eventually, the redness went away from his cheeks, and they had arrived at the Palace of Goddess Ishizu. Everyone, including Yugi's mother, gasped in awe.

"I don't see a thing," Jake said.

Emily turned him around, to face the palace. "Oh, now I see it!", he gasped in awe, too. Emily giggled, and covered her mouth with her hand to do it.

The float let it's sides down to form a bridge to let the Mutos across. They all walked in a big group, rather than a single file line, toward the palace gates. The gates were already open, to let anyone in. The group all went through the gates, smiling.

"Come on," Yugi's mother shouted, and grabbed Yugi's wrist. The two were ahead of the rest of their family, headed towards the dining hall.

"You know," Emily said, "we were always the goddess's favorites. You know, we're all duelists. We might as well be in the Shadow Realm."

Yugi's mother rolled her eyes. "That might explain why there are so many of you down here. They didn't send you to the Shadow Realm, this is where you ended up."

Soon enough, the whole family was in the dining hall. The table was covered with food, fruits and vegetables, bread and pitchers of tea and water. One platter near the center had a roast turkey on it, another had stacked pork chops. One bowl was filled with mashed potatoes, one had stuffing, and another had green beans. There was a long set of small pudding dishes, and in the direct center, was a chocolate cake with chocolate frosting and icing, with one swirl of whipped cream in the center, surrounded by cherries.

Jake gaped at the amount of food he saw. "God, this is glory!", he shouted. Emily smiled.

Yugi's mother pushed him forward. "Ask her, Yugi!", she ordered her son.

The chair that Ishizu was sitting in was turned around, facing the opposite direction of the table. Nevertheless, Yugi bowed, as if he were meeting the queen. "Excuse me, your highness, if you could be so kind, would you help me find someone? I've been looking for her and her father since I got here, and I was hoping you could help me."

"No one here can help you, duelist!"

Two black, dragon-like wings spread out from the sides of the throne-like chair. The person sitting in it stood up, and faced Yugi. "That's right," he shouted, "the Land of Remembered Ones has a new ruler!"

Yugi's family gasped in shock.

"Who, you ask? Little old me.", he smiled.

Yugi's mother gasped. "Heathen King Bakura! Goddess Ishizu rules this realm, not you! You should be in the Land of Forgotten Souls! Goddess Ishizu would never hand her domain over to you!", she yelled.

"She lost a bet," the Heathen King said, casually.

Yugi's mother shrugged her shoulders. "She would do that," she said.

"Oh, Ashita. You're so... informative," the Heathen King said, "anyway, Yugi, you won't find Tèa or her father here. They're not dead. I lied to you! I placed one of those microchips on the back of her neck. Now, she's in a coma, but her father's in the hospital. Tèa will only wake up if my champion wakes her. Pegasus will recover, but Kaiba must wake Tèa."

"What was the bet?", Yugi asked.

"You see, Ishizu bet that Tèa would marry you. I bet that Tèa would marry Kaiba. And, well, you're not alive anymore, so Tèa's going to have to marry Kaiba to protect the town from Emperor Alister. So, I win.", the Heathen King joyously exclaimed.

"Wait, you said Tèa had a single microchip on her! You put two on me, and killed me! You will pay for this!", Yugi yelled in anger.

The Heathen King was furious. He got closer to Yugi, and lifted him by the collar of his shirt. "In all my years, no one, in any realm, has ever spoken to me like that, and survived," he said, and pulled Yugi up higher, "so, I ask you: are you threatening me, boy?"


	21. Chapter 21

"Get him! Get him! Get him!", all five students shouted, in reference to Yugi. They wanted to see the Heathen King dead.

Mai smiled. "Now, hush up, so I can continue."

The room was suddenly quiet.


End file.
